Iker Casillas has claimed that he was hacked after deleting a tweet which appeared to announce that he was gay.
The former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper’s Twitter account shared a post on Sunday afternoon which read: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay,” as Carles Puyol seemed to hint that the pair of old teammates had been in a secret homosexual relationship. After receiving widespread support and appraisal for his social media statement, news began to emerge that Casillas was joking
Reports from Spain suggested that 41-year-old has grown fed up of recent speculation surrounding his dating life. Spanish outlet AS claimed that Casillas’ post was a response to rumours that he’s now in a relationship with Alejandra Onieva – the ex-sister-in-law to Spanish TV host Tamara Falco – 18 months after separating from the mother of his two children, sports journalist Sara Carbonero.
The Real Madrid legend then received a wave of backlash, with fans, players and pundits alike furious that he’d seemingly made a joke over such a difficult issue for so many inside and outside of football. Attempting to clear up the incident, Casillas wrote: “Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”
Josh Cavallo, the Australian player who bravely came out as gay last October and has fought discrimination since, shared his disappointment regarding the situation and tweeted his thoughts. “Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing,” Cavallo wrote.
“It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl have to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful.”
Source: mirror